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Alexander intervenes on changes to sick worker program

The U.S. Department of Labor has reopened public comment on the proposed rule changes in the government’s sick nuclear worker compensation program. The decision to extend the comment period comes after U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Tom...

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Alexander intervenes on changes to sick worker program

The U.S. Department of Labor has reopened public comment on the proposed rule changes in the government's sick nuclear worker compensation program.

The decision to extend the comment period comes after U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., sent a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez urging that all changes be halted until a newly created advisory board has had a chance to review the proposals.

The senators also want the federal agency to take into account some of the program's weaknesses identified in a recent report by the Government Accountability Office before proceeding with any changes.

More than $12 billion in compensation checks and medical care has been paid out since the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program Act was passed in 2000. Tennessee residents have collected more than $2 billion, the most of any state, with most of those claims related to exposures at the nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge.

Despite the large payouts, the Alliance for Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups and others have continued to criticize the process as inconsistent and unfriendly to Cold War workers made sick while working on nuclear weapons.

According to Alexander and Udall, the Labor Department has proposed changes to at least 72 provisions of the compensation program, some of which could make it more difficult for workers or their surviving relatives to collect on claims.

The Labor Department initially proposed changes to the program last September and accepted public comment until Jan. 19. The comment period was then extended to Feb. 18 at the request of worker advocates. The latest action will reopen the window for public comments through May 9.

The Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health was created, in part, to ensure that the rights of workers were fairly represented in the claims process. Garry Whitley, former president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council in Oak Ridge, was appointed to the advisory board, which meets for the first time later this month in Washington, D.C.

"The men and women who were exposed to radiation and toxic substances at our nation's nuclear facilities deserve to have their claims evaluated in a fair and equitable manner," Alexander and Udall said in their letter to the labor chief.

The rule changes could "increase the burden on claimants with little or no explanation," the senators stated.

While some changes would support existing practices, others would pose concerns — such as modifying a claimant's ability to change their treating physician, the senators said.

That could arguably provide the Labor Department more discretion to exclude providers, as well as take away the right of a patient to be seen by the doctor of their choice, they said.

In addition, the senators said qualified claimants could risk losing coverage if they were too sick to travel for second medical opinions or represent themselves at administrative hearings.